Northeast Corridor

The Northeast Corridor(NE) is an electrified railway line owned by Amtrak in the northeastern United States, running from Boston-Washington D.C via New York City, Philadelphia and Baltimore.

The corridor is used by many passenger and freight trains such as the high speed Acela Express, intercity trains and several long distance trains. Most of the corridor is often used by frequent commuter rail service such as the MBTA, Shore Line East, Metro-North Railroad, New Jersey Transit, SEPTA and MARC trains.

The corridor closely parallels I-95 for most of it's length, and is the buisiest passenger rail line in the United States as of 2013 for ridership and service frequency. Branches from Philadelphia-Harrisburg used by the Keystone Service and Pennsylvanian trains and the branch from New Haven, CT-Hartford, CT-Springfield, MA aren't considered part of the corridor.

Most of the line is built for speeds higher than 79 mph(127 km/hr) which is the rail speed limit in most US states. Amtrak can operate the Northeast Regional and the Keystone Service trains up to 125 mph(200 km/hr) and can operate the Acela Express up to 150 mph(240 km/hr) which is allowed in rural Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The Acela covers the 225 miles(363 km) between New York City and Washington D.C in 2 hours 45 minutes and the 230 miles(370 km) between New York City and Boston in just over 3 hours.

Amtrak has a $151 billion plan that in 2040, travel times will decrease to 38 min from New York City to Philadelphia, 1 hr 34 min from New York City to Washington D.C, 2 hr 18 min from Philadelphia to Boston and 1 hr 40 min from New York City to Boston.

History
Origins

The Northeast Corridor was built by several railroads from the 1830's-1917.

1. New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad ( New York City-Boston )

2. Pennsylvania Railroad( New York City-Washington D.C)